Tag Archives: Retail Spatial Design

Cognition and Collective Awareness: Creating “Place” in Retail

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Humans favor certain environments that satisfy survival needs. Through millions of years of evolution we are hardwired to seek out environments that signal an increases sense of comfort and  a higher probability of survival.  We seek out evidence of:

  • Abundant resources
  • Minimal threat from predators and aggressors
  • Shelter from the outside world

Much of this is subconscious, but it remains deeply ingrained in our collective psyche. Consequently, humans have evolved a visual preference for spaces that allow us to see without being seen when we so choose.  From a retail perspective, this means developing enclosed spaces that downplay threat and encourage complete emersion in the experience.

Even as we seek out environments that speak to our needs of comfort and survival, humans are inherent risk takers. Enticement and peril are part of the exploration process and without this deep-seated need to explore and take risks, we wouldn’t be human.  Humans need to seek new information and test their skills.

Consequently, we seek out new experiences that can be differentiated from other experiences.  We categorize these experiences, giving them greater meaning and a higher probability of habitual use.  Categorizing and differentiating suggest:

  • Diverse resources
  • Greater stability

Ultimately, this appears to be a contradiction. But there is the possibility of resolution.  Environmental psychologists assume that individuals’ feelings and emotions ultimately determine their behavior. The problem is that people rarely shop as individuals, even if they are alone. On the surface that may sound confusing, but the point is simple. Human beings are cultural creatures, shaped by shared experience and the unavoidable truth that we are part of a complex system of beliefs and interactions. Uncovering those cultural processes and designing a retail experience around them offsets the impact of cognitive responses to an environment.

So what do we do to provide a sense of security while playing to the underlying desire to explore and learn knew things?  We strike a balance.  And we strike that balance by thinking in terms of converting space to place.  Place identity concerns the meaning and significance of places for their inhabitants and users. People create memories within places and form personal and collective connections. The stronger the connection, the more likely they are to frequent the space and to bring new people to that place. The goal is to endow a venue with symbolic meaning, memory and significance.

The sense of place may be strongly enhanced by the setting, or the setting it attempts to project, being written about, being party of stories handed down over time, being portrayed in art or being part of the collective myth.  It can be established through modes of codification aimed at preserving or enhancing places and traditions felt to be of value. All this creates a “database” for framing the socio-physical settings we experience.  By providing customers with symbolic cues in the environment that set it apart from the surrounding area, we cater to the need to delve into the new while subconsciously establishing an element of the known, the safe and the familiar.

 

Retail Spatial Design

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Spatial design is a relatively new term that emerged about a decade ago and expresses the idea that people, design and environments all connect together is the primary idea behind spatial design. The concept defines the relationship of people to environments through the use and application of design principles and is specifically oriented toward space-location, denoting an active response toward the creation of efficiently operating environments that serve the purposes and needs of people.  Quite a mouth full to be sure, but the underlying idea is relatively simple – environments are complex and elements are interconnected, from furniture, to fixtures, to cultural understandings of space. If you have a retail space, every element works as part of a complex system of meaning.  Design well and you increase loyalty and sales.  Design poorly and people shy away.

Spatial design focuses on the flow of space between interior and exterior environments both in the private and public realm. It also looks at spaces within a larger context (e.g. “safe zones” within a store). The emphasis of the discipline is on the interrelationship between people and space, particularly looking at the notion of place and place identity.

Whereas space refers to the structural, geometrical qualities of a physical environment, place is the notion that includes the dimensions of lived experience, interaction and use of a space by its inhabitants or visitors. We cannot escape spatiality: as spatial beings, we live and meet each other in space. That means we do more than fill a space.  It means all space is defined by social interaction and the cultural interpretations we bring to the environment before we even enter it.  Space never is meaningless.  Our body is the central reference point for perception and culture is the filter through with interpret a space. Movement and perception are tightly coupled and we interpret spatial qualities (or positioning of other objects) in relation to our own body. Spatial qualities therefore have cultural and psychological meaning – space can feel protectively enclosing or claustrophobic, objects and people are near or far, large objects tower over smaller ones. Spatial qualities inform interactions, creating or reinforcing how we interact with others, including sales staff.

So why does any of this matter?  Because a retails space, like any space, is less likely to engage if it is difficult for customers to assign meaning to it.  Creating a sense of place – memory, cultural cues, mythology, meaning – transforms the location into a destination.  That means increased visits over time, greater loyalty, advocacy, and more sales.  Retailers need to consider their environment in broader, strategic ways. How can different notions of place help us to understand collaborative practices within existing environments?  How do we design for supporting collaboration and social interaction within retail spaces?   What meaning does and can the retail brand hold for customers?   That requires thinking, planning and a commitment to research that goes beyond the numbers.